William le grand hamilton



W. LE G. HANHLYGN.

ENVELOF.

APPLICATION FILED Dsc. x3. mln.

Palwfmwd .i une l0, 1919 lll llliihlll LE GRAND HAMILTON, kOF TTTENVLLE, NEW YORK.

ENVELOP.

Specification of Letters atent.

Patented June iid, 12919.

Application filed December 13, 1918. Serial No. 266,531.

To all feo/mm it may conce/rn:

Be it known that l, rimani LF. Guano Hamilton', a citizen of the United States.y and a resident of Tottenville. county of Richmond, State of New York. have invented certain new and useful improvements in Envelope, of which the following' is a specilient-ion.

My invention relates to envelops designed to he readily opened without injury to the contents.

One ot' the objects of my invention is to provide an envelop which shall he so con-- sti-noted that the recipient may readily open the same with any paper cutter oit the usual type without injury to the contents of the envelop, especially whenthe envelop is et the window type, in which case the contents` by reason ot' the peculiar` folding; ot letters, are peculiarly subject to injury when the letter is opened in the usual manner b v insorting` a cutter under the top flap. nother object ot my invention is to provide suoli an envelop with a` visible marking'v so as to indicate to the` recipient where the envelop is to he opened. ll'ith this and other objects in view my invention consists ot` cert-ain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will loe more fully described and pointed out in the appended claims.

ln the drawings Figure 1 represents a back view of a type of envelop which I have chosen for purposes ot illustration ol my invention.

Fig. :2 is an ciilarg'ed cross-section on the line 2"@ of Fig. l.

The correspondingparts are referred to both in the drawings and in the specification hy similar reference characters.

ln the drawings l represents the top flap of an envelop et the usual type, il the bot tom tiap, and l2 and 13 the two end iaps of such an envelop.

These flaps are folded and cemented together in the usual way, the top flap l() being' provided with cement; to be used to seal the envelop1 all as is Well understood. 'lhe bottom flap overlaps a portion of the end Hap l2 in the usual manner, and also in they usual nia-nner a strip oit cement is applied between these two flaps. ln 'order to provide a ready means loy which a cutter may be inserted so as to eut or tear open the envelop wit-hout injury t0 the contents, l pro vide a space l5 between the two flaps, at which place the cement is omitted. Also, in order to provide easy access to the. under cemented portion. as well as to indicate visually the point at which the cutter is to he inserted. l preferably notch the edgel of the bot-tom tlap l1. as at 16, this notch being' termed in any convenient wav, and not nec essarily in the `torni indicated in the drawings.

ln use the recipient of the' envelop inserts a cutter into the openingand cuts through the bottom Hap il along the bottom ofthe envelop so that the contents may beread'ily removed. By placing the opening l5 away from the edges ot the envelop l insure that the cutter does not enter the yiold in the usual manner. and by providingthe opening 15 at the bottom o't the envelop instead ot' at the top, l also insure that the fold in the letter inelosed in envelope of the window type. which 'told is usually at the top of the envelop, is not disturbed by the cutter.

By my improvement, thereforeq l have. provided a cheap and effective means by which envelops may be opened without injury to their contents. It will be understood that the exact location ot the opening 15 is not necessarily that indicated in the drawings. lt may be near the edges of the envelop, although preferably I locate it in the position shown so as to have the cut-ter well above the fold ot the letter. lt will. also be understood that the notch 16 is not essential. While l have indicated the openine; l5 at, one end of the envelop only, it will be, umlerstood that, if desired, this opening may be duplicated at the opposite end ot thc envelop as well.

l claim:

l. An envelop having` bottom and end flaps with overlapping portions permanently cementeditogethe and a top flap adapted to be sealed to the other flaps when the envelop is closed, the envelop having a small unobstructed opening between the bottom flap and one ot' the end liaps spaced a substantial distance t'rom the lower edge, whereby a cutter inserted in said opening engages the outside of the contents of the envelop.

2. An envelop having bottom and end tial distance from the lovvezi edge, whereby flaps )with overlapping portions permanently e cutter inserted in said opening engages the cemented together und e, top Hap adapted to outside of the contents of the envelop, and 10 be sealed to the other flaps when the envelop the edge of the uppermost apbeing notched 5 is closed, .the envelop having'a small unobat said opening.

structed opening between the bottom flap 1 and one of the end flaps spaced e substan- WILLIAM LE GRAND HAMILTON. 

